UNESCO participates in International Conference on Education and Sports in Turkmenistan

From 9-10 November 2016, the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan organized an international exhibition and conference on “Education and Sport in the Prosperous Epoch of the Powerful State”, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The Minister of Education, H.E. Mr. Pürli Agamyradow, opened the conference and welcomed the international participants to Ashgabat.

After that, Ms. Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office and UNESCO Representative to Turkmenistan delivered her keynote speech. She mentioned that the conference also marked the national launch of the 2016 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, entitled “Education for People and Planet”.

“The report shows that Turkmenistan is one of only twelve countries in the world currently on track to reach its global education targets. This is a remarkable achievement linked to the important efforts that the Government of Turkmenistan has made in recent years to prioritize advances in education”, said Ms. Kuisch Laroche. “However, globally, there is an urgent need for greater headway. On current trends, the world will only achieve universal primary education by 2042, universal lower secondary education in 2059 and universal upper secondary education by 2084. This means the world would be half a century late for the 2030 deadline.”

The UNESCO Representative went on to say that “Now, more than ever before, education has a responsibility to be in gear with 21st century challenges and aspirations, and foster the right types of values and skills that will lead to sustainable and inclusive growth, and peaceful living together.”

After the official opening ceremony, the conference continued in five parallel working sessions. Session II on “Cooperation of Turkmenistan with International Organisations in the Field of Education” was led by UNESCO.

During that session there were 14 presentations from foreign and Turkmen education specialists.  The presentations covered topics ranging from Early Childhood Care and Education, Primary and Secondary Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training to Higher Education, followed by discussions.

The Turkmen experts shared national experiences in the field of disaster risk reduction in education, inclusion of children with disabilities and the importance of intangible cultural heritage in the education of pre-school children in Turkmenistan. They also talked about the use of ICT in education.

Ms. Maki Hayashikawa, Chief of the Section for Inclusive and Quality Education and Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator for Education 2030 in UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Bangkok, provided an overview of global and regional trends in education as well as recommendations for Turkmenistan.

Other international participants made presentations about the importance of TVET for sustainable development.

During the closing ceremony of the conference, all working groups provided summaries of their discussions and recommendations in a plenary session.

In his closing remarks, the Minister of Education highlighted the importance of education and sports in Turkmenistan’s policies and national strategies for development.

During the two-day event, the participants also had a chance to visit the international exhibition, which featured booths from several Ministries, private companies and sports associations, as well as demonstrations of gymnastics, martial arts and dances by Turkmen children.